Worldwide Smartphone Shipments Increase 25.2% in the Third Quarter with Heightened Competition and Growth Beyond Samsung and Apple, Says IDC
29 Oct 2014
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. October 29, 2014 – New smartphone releases and an increased emphasis on emerging markets drove global smartphone shipments above 300 million units for the second consecutive quarter. According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 327.6 million units during the third quarter of 2014 (3Q14), resulting in 25.2% growth when compared to the 261.7 million units shipped in 3Q13 and 8.7% sequential growth above the 301.3 million units shipped in 2Q14.
"Despite rumors of a slowing market, smartphone shipments continue to see record-setting volumes," said Ryan Reith, Program Director with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "We've finally reached a point where most developed markets are experiencing single-digit growth while emerging markets are still growing at more than 30% collectively. In these markets, smartphone price points are making mobile computing possible where we once expected feature phones to remain dominant. This is great news for overall volumes, but the challenge has now become how to make money on devices that are quickly becoming commodity products. Outside of Apple, many are struggling to do this."
A driving force behind the record smartphone volume was the combined effort of the vendors trailing market leaders Samsung and Apple. "The next three vendors – Xiaomi, Lenovo, and LG Electronics – all posted market-beating growth and with markedly different strategies," said Ramon Llamas, Research Manager with IDC's Mobile Phone team. "This shows that there is still room to compete in this market, whether it be in the low end as Lenovo has done, at the high end where Xiaomi competes, or in both as LG Electronics has shown. Beyond the top five, there are a number of other vendors achieving similar results."....................................................................
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS25224914
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Global semiconductor revenues to reach over US$400 billion in 2017, says GSA
Josephine Lien, Taipei; Steve Shen, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 29 October 2014]
The global semiconductor industry was responsible for generating US$290 billion in annual revenues in 2012 with expectations that this number will exceed US$400 billion in 2017, according to the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA).
The semiconductor industry currently also makes a direct contribution to global GDP of US$202 billion while sustaining 1.3 million high-value jobs, and these numbers are expected to continue their rapid growth into the years ahead, the GSA said in a report entitled "Enabling the Hyper-connected Age: The role of semiconductors" consigned to Oxford Economics.
The GSA has chosen Taiwan to be the first leg to release the research report given that the production value of Taiwan's semiconductor industry currently ranks as the second-largest globally and with strong earnings.
The release of the research paper aims to let governments involved better understand the semiconductor industry and therefore will help the industry create a more healthy ecosystem, said Nicky Lu, chairman of Taiwan-based Etron Technology and concurrently chairman of GSA Asia-Pacific Leadership Council.
The number of employees hired by the semiconductor industry in the US currently total about 240,000, and the numbers are higher than 100,000 in Japan, Korea and Europe each, and about 180,000 in Taiwan and 220,000 in China, GSA said.
The semiconductor industry needs to constantly invest in R&D, and depends in turn on the education system to develop future scientists and engineers, said GSA.
To help ensure the industry's future as a driver of competitiveness and prosperity, governments must ensure vigorous funding and scholarships for students in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math), and programs to expand and diversify the talent pipeline, GSA urged.
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20141029PD206.html
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TSMC to trail Samsung by 14pp in FinFET in 2015, says Barclays
Josephine Lien, Taipei; Steve Shen, DIGITIMES [Thursday 30 October 2014]
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will have a 39% share in the FinFET process segment in 2015 compared to Samsung Electronics' 53%, according to an estimate of Barclays Capital Securities Taiwan.
TSMC will move into the FinFET segment with its 16nm process, while Samsung will take the lead by entering 14nm node.
However, TSMC's share in the sector is expected to soar to 61% in 2016, whereas Samsung and Globalfoundries combined are expected to account for 39%, Barclays noted. Clients for TSMC's 16nm process will include Xilinx, MediaTek and Qualcomm.
The projection endorsed a recently comment made by TSMC chairman Morris Chang, who said TSMC will recapture its market leadership in the FinFET segment in 2016 after losing out to Samsung slightly in 2015.
(vested)
